Empowering Our Youth
What a year it’s been for the Children’s Legacy Partnership. We finished strong in December with two important programs that will have a big impact on our children. In communities in rural Uganda, we continued our partnership with the 52 Kids Foundation and Kapida, providing funding for reproductive health classes.
Josephine Dhizaala meets with families and teens. - PIC
This month saw many families come together and participate in trainings and discussions to ensure a legacy for their children where they can finish their education, and understand healthy, supportive relationships.
These classes will continue in January and February and have been possible with the generous support of our donors.
We also held a very successful Empower Youth Leadership Conference for 50 middle school students from around the state of Vermont. After piloting this event twice, were we able to serve more students through a grant from the NOVO Foundation and Education First Foundation. We also had some local sponsors who helped make the event possible. Larkin Realty and the Holiday Inn, South Burlington provided event space and our luncheon. Lantman’s market provided snacks, and Signarama helped with our banners.
Students participated in several workshops throughout the day. First, they worked with high school facilitators to create their dreams for the world. These were shared with the students in Uganda via a live Skype conversation. It was so heartening to see the insight that these future leaders have to make the world a better place for all! Students also learned how to speak and present themselves to others to communicate effectively.
Creating vision boards is always a highlight for participants as they identify what their goals are for their future. One of the most important aspects of the conference is the workshop on Money Smarts. Students learn about credit, debt, investing, and compound interest. There were lively discussions about assets and liabilities.
The day ended with students learning how to practice and express gratitude as a way to bring abundance and positivity into their lives. It truly felt as if students were empowered as they stood and made their declaration of what they will take away from their day at the conference. We look forward to holding two more of these conferences in the next few months. We’re always looking for volunteers to help out so if you’d like to be inspired by our youth just get in touch. We are continually grateful to our community of donors who are investing in the future of our children. Here’s to a productive 2017, and we’re looking forward to a fabulous 2018!
